Cepn Species Concept (5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons)

"Blood is a curious thing. Drank, it can nourish and sustain us. Tracked, it's said to determine lineage, heritage, even nobility. Bottled, it's used for potent rituals, claimed by many to hold the essence of spirit. And spilled... it can alter the fate of entire nations. Curious stuff, blood."

Cepn (SEH'-pɘn) are batlike mammalian humanoids, averaging five to six feet in height. Much of their physiological development is specialized for flight, leaving them with light, lean builds. They bear a short coat of fur that comes in shades of brown, grey, black, and rarely white. It can vary with markings like stripes and spots, and is sometimes joined with longer hair over their heads. They tend to dark eye colors, but these become shades of red after a recent meal of blood. The facial structure can range from short and delicate to long and snouty, with some variants having leaf noses or other unusual facial features, and their teeth are small but sharp. Though their sight and sense of smell are merely average, their hearing is incredibly keen thanks to large, sensitive ears. They can hear and vocalize into the ultrasonic range, with voices that contain more nuance than other races can hear, and they are capable of mapping and visualizing space with their echolocation, allowing them to operate almost totally unhindered in complete darkness. They mature comparably to humans, though infirmity sets in later, individuals beginning to weaken in their 70s, and capable of surviving several decades beyond that.

The cepn's arms are slender but muscular, merged with broad leathery wings that attach at their ribs and waist, and are extended and supported by modified finger bones, joined to hands that are nimble despite long claws. The patagia (wing surface) isn't just a membrane, but a sheet of muscle that can stretch and shift to control the flight surface. The bones that provide the wing structure are flexible. Between those traits, the wing is considerably more resilient than its fragile appearance would have one believe. With these, all cepn are able to glide and perform agile maneuvers while doing so. Stronger and more dedicated cepn can develop full flight capabilities, becoming swift and undisputed masters of the air. Cepns' feet are prehensile, capable of grasping perches to hang from or carrying items in flight, but lack opposable thumbs and the dexterity for fine manipulation.

In the past, cepn were capable of subsisting on a variety of foods, including fruit and plants. The arrival of the Spiral, and the thirst for immortality among the cepn leaders, would cause a shift in both culture and diet. Modern cepn are now at least partial hemovores, and have developed anticoagulant saliva. The herbivorous among them, known as 'kizril', were derided as weak and are no longer seen in Cepn society, driven away and, presumably, to extinction.

Ability scores: Dex +2 Wis +2 Con -1

Size: Average from five to six feet in height, from 90 to 120 pounds. Size is considered medium.

Age: Cepn mature similarly to humans, but remain vital into their 70s and average ones can live up to 100 years or more.
Alightment: Cepn run the full gamut of alignments, though their morbid culture and grim outlook on life may appear as more evil than good.

Speed: Base walking speed of 30. Cepn who take their flying feat gain a flight speed of 50. In flight, they can turn and reverse direction within their own body length, but cannot hover.

Wing Boosts and Gliding: A cepn with their wings free and carrying half their carry capacity or less can perform wing boosts and can glide considerable distances. When making a standing or long jump, a wing-boosting cepn can roll two jump checks, and add up the results to determine height. This works with further boosting effects like the Jump spell. A cepn in the air can glide at a movement speed of 30, traveling 5 feet for every 1 foot they fall. If they are conscious and their wings are free, a falling cepn can negate fall damage from any height.

Blindsense: Using echolocation, cepn can perceive their surroundings in total darkness to a range of 60 feet. This only applies to shapes, however, meaning they cannot perceive color, or see things like markings or print on pages. They can perceive liquids, but not intangible things like smoke or illusions. They usually do this with a subtle vocalization at a frequency outside the range of almost any other creature, though they can use any noise they make. They lose their blindsense if they are deafened. However, their ears and hearing are not only sharp, but fairly resilient. They can still pick out individual sounds in a cacophony of noise. Silencing the cepn makes things more difficult, but they can still get around remarkably well with just ambient sound.

Light blindness: Cepn have normal vision, but their eyes are sensitive to bright light. They suffer disadvantage to attack rolls and skill checks requiring eyesight in daylight.

Bite: Cepn have sharp teeth and anticoagulating saliva. They can use an action to bite a living, fleshy creature for 1d4 + str modifier piercing damage, and each bite leaves a wound that bleeds 2 points per round until healed magically, staunched with a DC 12 medicine check, or the wound has bled for five rounds.

Prehensile feet: A cepn's feet can grasp and carry objects, but aren't capable of fine manipulation. Cepn can comfortably sleep hanging upside down, and carry a light load when using their arms for flight.

Keen Hearing: They have proficiency in perception checks based on hearing, and make those checks with advantage.

Hemovore: Cepn can eat various foods, but require two pints of fresh blood each day, or they begin to suffer the effects of starvation no matter how much other food they eat. A cepn can subsist on blood alone, but requires one gallon per day. They must consume it 'raw', though some enjoy flavorings. Cepn do not suffer symptoms from most blood-borne diseases, but can be carriers.

Languages: Tamaran standard common, cepnese

Subraces: Different cepn subraces are scattered around Rym. These include the rare and possibly extinct Kizril, the Duskmen, and the Eyeless.

Cepn Special Classes: Razor, Silencer, Ringwing, Mad Painter